I knew a spider bite could have unpleasant results but I had no idea the brown recluse could wreak such havoc. (Not for the faint of heart.) (via mefi)
You may never see one depending on what state you live in but just in case, here’s how to treat a bite.
Sweet merciful crap!! I think I’ve seen these little abominations in my basement and in my garden. I _must_ burn everything. Yes, the cleansing power of fire will make everything better.
Only 2 bites my state. Sweet!
Lets not forget what it said on the website. If you forgot, I’ll paste it here. Note: A Hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis) can cause the same symptoms as the BRS. They are spreading in the NW states, apparently starting in Seattle around 1930. It is possible that some bites reported in this region, resulting in necrotic arachnidism, may stem from the Hobo, not the BRS.
These Hobo spiders are all over the place. There is good news. Not every Hobo bite contains the poison. It depends on if they are trying to protect themselves.
Icky!
I never kill spiders in my home. Is this a bad thing?
I figure they catch the bugs that I don’t like. Since I don’t mind spiders, I’d rather have them and let them catch the other creepy crawlies.
From what I’ve read the spiders don’t like to bite, and will only do so when threatened. If you inadvertantly threaten them it could be dangerous, but like you said, spiders can be valuable bug catchers.
That is pretty nasty. From this point on I will kill and burn all arachnids, just in case. One cannot be too careful in this cruel world.
I’ll have you know that I have never seen Carlene kill a spider. As memory has it, she has chastised me for smashing those buggers.
Just for the record. I have in actuality been kissed by a spider. True story.
Okay, now you have to tell the story. How does one get kissed by a spider? Was it everything you thought it would be? Did you form a lasting relationship with it, or was it just a fling?
Yes, it was everything I thought it would be, and it was most certainly a fling. Once I realized that the spider stole the kiss, I flung him across the room.
The story goes like this. He was playing hide-and-go-seek in my sandwich (a very stupid thing for him to do). I guess he realized that I wouldn’t find him and decided to bite my lip when I tried to bite the sandwich. Because of the bite, I had big lips like Goldie Hawn for about 3 days.
It’s not a very romantic story.
Was he brown with hairy legs?
That cheating jerk! He told me I was the only one.
It sounds like the spider was trying his darndest to be romantic, but you just weren’t playing along. I find the idea of having big lips amusing.
People will pay a fair amount for lips like that. You got quite a bargain there, Mel.
Death to all Funnel Web Spiders.
You may torch the spiders if you want, just don’t breathe the poisonous fumes.
I live approximately 25 miles South East of Dallas, TX. While going through my storage unit a few days ago, I disturbed what must have been a moderately sized nest of spiders living in one of my boxes of books and various household items. Being from a family with a history of gardening, I did my best not to injure any of the critters while inspecting the contents of the box. Be assured I did not use my bare hands, fingers, hands and fingers covered by gloves or any thing involving one of my body parts bare or covered by so-called protective clothing. I used a couple of pieces of wood to hold or open boxes and also to move or remove items in the container. I would not have been too concerned about the spiders had there been only minimal amount of contact. But……it seemed every box, bag, decoration or furniture item I touched produced at least one appearance of the arachnid displaying typical Def-Con 5 posture. One box I crawled, climbed and wormed my way to served as host to no less than 11 of the spiders. I noticed what appeared to be a Hobo Spider(also possessing highly caustic bite) that had been partially eaten. I knew another spider was responsible so I proceeded cautiously with content removal. During this process I reached a quick and uneasy conclusion of infestation by same genus of spider, the BROWN RECLUSE!!!! Please refer to previous sentences for reminder how I arrived at this particular box……Yep…I was laying on many other boxes stacked in and around infested box. I tried to levitate my body using the power of my mind but was unable to do so. At one point, I thought I was going to lose bladder control. I pondered the spider’s reaction to a golden shower as a nanosecond or two elapsed and a firm and involuntary flex by the Sphincter saved the day. Yay Sphincter! VERY, and I mean VERY luckily I did not lay on any of them or make any of them feel threatened enough to take defensive measures. Most likely due to my initial display of non-threatening posture concerning their presence and their characteristic of non-aggressive behavior in absence of posed threat. So without hesitation I took full advantage of all advantages at my disposal and removed myself from the storage unit. After a lengthy visual inspection of my person by three parties, discovery of bites and/or guilty parties of bites totaled zero.
After thanking my lucky stars and a successful removal of my briefs from the neighbor who lives in back of Sphincter, I conjured up as much testosterone as possible at the time(only a few drops) and reentered the storage unit to capture a specimen. Upon a successful Internet search using Lycos, I selected a page with pictures and info on the Brown Recluse. Then as the page displayed, Lo’ and behold, there was a picture of the identical twin to the spider in the cassette case I was holding. I don’t know if they had the same mother or not, but they surely had the same daddy because they looked exactly alike. So….I have a storage unit full of furniture, clothing, files, books and hard to kill Brown Recluse Spiders. I’ve sprayed the unit twice already and only results or effect so far is I’ve got to see a lot of the new twenty dollar bills as I handed them to the cashier. I’m going to go all out and hire the big guns and see if they can eradicate the populous of unpaying and dangerous tenants. I have children and do not want to introduce to my domicile any particular section of the “orchestra” if you know what I mean………………………………………………………(Fiddle Backs)….hee hee…… But, that is my story/dilemma so far. I’ll keep you updated.
WELL THIS MAKES TWICE BITTEN IN ONE YEAR.. LUCKY ME RIGHT…WRONG.. THE FIST ONE WAS IN OUR BARN WE WERE CLEANING OUT GOT ME ON LOWER LEFT LEG..IT ATE A HOLE ALMOST TO THE BONE IN ME LEG VERY NASTT INDEED..I WAS VERY INEXPERIENCED AT ALL OF THIS BUT I WAS ON ANTIBODICS ALREADY FOR EYE INFECTION..MY DR SAW ME UP THE ANTIBODICES TO KEFLEX STRONGER TOLD ME TO PUT ICE PACKS TO KEEP INFECTION FROM GOIN DEEPER IN MY LEG IT WORKED SOMEWHAT BUT AS SOON AS YOU SEE THE SCAB START TO FORM ITS BROWN DRY SCAB OVER THE SORE PULL THE SUCKER OFF IMMEDIATELY ASAP START GET THE UCKY ORANGE PUSS STUFF WASH OUT THE INFECTED AREA REALLY GOOD I USED BAKIN SODA AND WATER THEN POUR IODINE INTO THE HOLE IN YOUR SORE AND LET IT HEAL FROM THE BOTTOM UP DONT USE ANTIBODICS CREAM ETC IT HAS TO AIR DRY HEAL AND IODINE BETEDINE BEST STUFF IN THE WORLD TO HEAL IT UP FASTER KEEP DOWN MORE INFECTION ETC..THE ICE PACKS HELP THATS THE FIRST THING YOU WANT TO REMEMBER TO DO TO KEEP THE SWELLING FROM GOIN DEEPER WITH THIS SPIDER POISON THEN GET ON STRONG ANTIBODICS ASAP SOME PEOPLE SAY IT DOESNT HELP BUT HEY I WOULD RATHER BE SAFE THAN SORRY BUT IODINE IS THE ANSWER TO HEAL THIS THING UP IN THE LONG RUN
ok well i was bitten 27 times by this spider. i had to move out of my house.I am in the worst pain imanageable. Some of the bites are as fer back as 3 mo ago and still healing. I even had to have my appendix removed because of all the toxens i cannot filter any more out of my body.,I am haveing tingeing ruches threwout my entire body. I am on antibodicies– laviquen500– I really think i am diying – i keep passing out on a regular basices. every time i get a rush of burning/tingeling i eat bendrial
i just noticed the bite on my outside back thigh two days ago i am in extreme pain as i type this now. its been three years now since my first bite. i was working as a security guard down at the docks in san pedro. it took emergency help
probing eight deep holes around the then dead tissue that had once been my flesh but now completlty destroyed been eated by the acid of the venom extremly painful and took months to heal leaving a scar. 6 months after that another bite developed about 12 inches from the orignal i dont think i biten again but some how redevolped itself. has any one ever experienced this? please email me [email protected]. now presently in extreme pain again. im not sure if i got bitten again or if its reactivated itself by mourning i plan to go to emergency if i can hold out that long i hate them spiders kill kill killem if you get the chance!!!!!!!!!!
On June 4th 2004 I was biten by a brown recluse spider on my left leg. After six days of IV antibiotics and several trips to the ER. I have sprayed, and I have bombed my apartment. Now, I woke up and another bite upon my right arm. I’m so violated. I live in UTAH where the poison control guy told me oh no there are no brown recluse spiders in UTAH!! Well hello genius!!!!!!! THERE ARE NOW YOU MORON!!!!!! I caught the damn thing and yes I still have the crunchy spider in a zip lock bag. Its twice in less than 3 weeks? THEY ARE IN UTAH AND ITS BITING SEASON!
I cant deal with this.
Suzy
Recenly I got bit (brad)by what the doctors thought was a Recluse, After Eli and I did some searching we learned it was probly a hobo spider as they are mosre known to be in my area (Seattle). But both of us think spiders are really yucky now and would rather kill them before they kill us. =D
Are there any in upstate NY? Say Oswego? There are these ugly evil little demon spiders here weaving funnels all over the damn place. It looks like a scene from aracnaphobia in my basement. It feels like one day i’ll go down there for laundry and see the mailman strung up with his insides sucked out. Sorry for the visual.